Progress Report
August 13-18, 2007 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #149
Contact phone numbers
Internet Phone:
New York: 315-279-6711
Toronto: 416-907-5758 // 416-461-2203
Costa Rica:
Cell: 506-305-3965
Land: 506-282-4142 Ext. 101
NOTE: the New York and Toronto numbers are "local calls" for people in the area codes; calls from outside the area code will be billed at the normal rate from the caller's area code to either the "315" or the "416" area code.
NOTE: WHEN I STARTED RESIDENCIAS LOS JARDINES, I STARTED WRITING A WEEKLY NEWS LETTER—DEETERMINED TO TELL ALL THE GOOD, BAD, AND THE UGLY. I KNEW SOME READERS WERE INTERESTED IN THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS. OTHERS WERE INTERESTED IN HAVING INSIGHT TO THE LIFESTYLE OF TWO PEOPLE WHO HAD DECIDED TO LIVE OUTSIDE THE BOX. FOR OTHERS, THE ADVENTURES OF LITA, THE PARROT AND THE CAT TOOK ON AN ENTERTAINMENT SAGA ALL ITS OWN.
RESIDENCIAS LOR JARDINES IS FINISHED. WE PERIODICALLY HAVE RESALES AND RENTAL AVAILABILTY. SOME READERS MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS INFORMATION.
MORE AND MORE, THE CONTENT WILL BE DOMINATED BY EVENTS OF OUR NEW PROJECT, “EL DORADO” FOR SHORT. WHILE THE FUTURE IS ALWAYS UNCERTAIN, I AGAIN AIM TO TELL IT LIKE IT HAPPENS—THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, AND THAT IS WHAT FOLLOWS:
The STORY: El Dorado: marketing
Pictures: quebrada & fencing
CONSTRUCTION
Architect: we beat each other up on Tuesday and then
kissed and made up on Thursday. In conversation with
one of our resident owners/investors, I realized that
we really hadn't included many "investor" based
units, ie. smaller units which could be leased at a
good ROI. In my Thursday session with the architect,
we did that by creating a 4plex design of smaller 1
and two bedroom units. We also worked out a delivery
schedule for the remaining work for this phase to be
delivered by the architect. At this point in time,
I'm not really able to contribute much; the architect
has to do the rest on his own. I'll await the results
of the finished floor plans, the exterior and interior
renderings. I should have all of these by August 30.
Quebrada: We are continuing to install cement culvert
sections in the portion of the quebrada which bisects
our land. If the semi-dry weather continues, we
should be finished this by the end of next week. We
are trucking in a lot of soil and much more is needed,
to burry the culvert and to level off this area. We
will continue to forge ahead on this as long as the
dry weather holds.
The City asked us if we could replace some of their
culverts going under the street with larger ones; we
agreed-this is the first positive sign of a win-win
relationship-and what I've been hoping and waiting
for. We'll see if this is the beginning of
cooperation or just a one off thing... time will tell.
Fence: We've been focusing on the quebrada while it
hasn't been raining so much. We have, however,
continued the fence along the roadway where we will be
putting chain link or cyclone fencing-this will
provide safety to the community and will prevent the
dumping of garbage and will add an element of
perimeter security.
Web site: This is under development and we have
decided to use the following domain name:
eldoradocostarica.com
Marketing: Our new marketing manager is beginning to
get his feet wet while he works out of his current job
and into ours. We've had meetings with a possible
corporate law firm and meetings are being set up for
several other banks. I also understand that one of
the local CR newspapers wants to do an article on El
Dorado.
Chris Howard, well known author and relocation to
expert on Costa Rica, and Rudy Mathews, RE agent,
have been introducing clients to Los Jardines for
about a year and more recently to El Dorado. Rudy has
been very successful at finding people new homes in
Costa Rica and at Los Jardines and has a substantial
list of people already interested in El Dorado. The
marketing manager we hired was a referral from Rudy's
boss-Robert Shannon. We expect to continue working
closely with Rudy and the other agents at Costa Rica
Retirement Vacation Properties.
Scott Oliver (WeLoveCostaRica.com) and his partner,
Mayra, have also relocated a number of people over the
past year to Los Jardines and when we move into the
marketing phase of El Dorado we expect they will
become very active. They were very successful at the
Avalon Country Club development.
We expect to develop strong relationships with other
good-reliable, knowledgeable, and responsible agents
and agencies, e.g. Vacation City / George Bradbury-and
will begin building those relationships as we
assemble our marketing package.
Financial Arrangements: We haven't yet received any
feedback from either the Scotiabank or the other
private bank which is still awaiting operating
permission from the government. We are setting up
meetings with several other national and private
banks, eg. Cathay and HSBC (recent owner of Banex).
RESIDENCIAS LOS JARDINES
For Sale / for Lease: nothing for sale and beginning
Oct. 1, unit 121 is available for lease.
Texas Hold-em: the new table continues to get well
used and all players have a good time. Normally, two
games a played per night (usually Wednesday nights)
with a 10,000 colone / $20 buy-in. There does not
seem to be any consistent winner which makes the games
interesting and friendly.
Satellite TV: DISH continues to change the codes but...
The developer to the east of us, a large CR company
which does decent work, is currently tearing up the
paved road we and two others paid for and are ripping
up the 24" rain water culvert the City required us to
put in. It all seems kind of stupid to put it in and
three years later to rip it up and install a larger
one. Couldn't they have figured this out? In the
process, the developer cut two parallel lines in the
middle of the road separated by about 5'. This would
normally indicate that is the portion of the road
which would be dug up —but no, they are digging up
the edge of the road not paying any attention to the
cut pavement. It gives me some comfort to know we
aren't the only ones who screw up. I can only hope
they repair the road as good as new... I'm hopeful,
they seem to be good builders.
OUR LIVES
Weather: mostly clear mornings cloudy afternoons but
not a lot of rain this past week.
Wendy's: I finally got there and found it tasted
just like a Wendy's burger in N. Am. From my
perspective, it's nice to have an option for lunch.
Dental work: had a cleaning and 2 X-rays: $56. Top
notch; close by; walk-in and done.
Lita hasn't been going to the gym as much but she
bought an exercise ball for home use. She continues
to get a lot of pleasure out of her birds and you can
tell, they look forward to the interaction.
Brian, Lita, Hairless Hugo, irreverent Vicka, the
pigeon toed parrot, and the newbies- Chico and Chica.
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